Sandra Izbaşa: "I'd Have a Hard Time Retiring"

Gazeta Sporturilor posted an interview with Sandra Izbaşa today. It doesn't contain a lot of new information, but it's a nice read, with some tantalizing tidbits on her new floor routine. Here it is...


(Photo: Gazeta Sporturilor)

"It's like a profession to me"

Sandra Izbaşa explains why she didn't leave Deva after the Olympics
Sandra Izbaşa is still at Deva. This year she will turn nineteen, in June. She is the Olympic champion on floor, as well as a double European champion on the same event. Why hasn't she left the sport she has been doing for fifteen years now?

"Gymnastics has gotten into my blood. I'd find it hard to retire. It's like a profession to me. What would I do at home? Get bored, that's what I'd do!" says Sandra Izbaşa when we catch up with her one evening at the foot of the Deva fortress. She has just finished another one of the thousands of workouts she has had in her career. And the counting is not over yet... No sooner has she finished speaking about boredom than she starts about something else: "At age eighteen female gymnasts begin to mature. What would I do at home? Divide my time between home and school? At least I'm doing something constructive now. This year I'll have to graduate from high school, and then there's a gold medal at the world championships to be won," adds Sandra.

"I'd have a hard time retiring"
The gold medal at the world championships is the only one which has so far eluded her. "World championships are not like the Olympics. If I had screwed up in Beijing, I would have had a problem. But the world championships are held every year," says Sandra. The gymnast from Bucharest has competed in two world championships, where she has won three medals: a silver on beam (2006) and two bronzes, one in the all-around (2006) and one with the team (2007).

The colors of the Olympics
Makeup is part of a female gymnast's job description. Girls made to look older by means of layers of color. Why do gymnasts use makeup? "Ever since I was a child I've been taught to use certain facial expressions and makeup. When I couldn't put on my makeup myself, my female coaches would help me. They taught me that I'm an artist, not on the stage but on four apparatus," explains Sandra. At the Olympics, her colors were black, blue and orange. Sandra would have liked to use white as well, but "I'm quite pale enough as is."

From happiness to sadness
Sandra has taken her Olympic floor routine with her into 2009, even if she is also preparing a new routine. "I've mastered both routines very well. The music is from the same theme I used in Beijing, but it's not happy anymore, but sad," adds the double European champion on floor. [We take this to mean that Sandra is using music from the Bandyta soundtrack by Michal Lorenc again, but a less cheerful part of it this time around.]


(Photo: ProSport)

Even so, what would Sandra like to do once she has retired? "Listen to music, manage to do some sports-like dancing... I would have said handball, but I don't want to have any elbows shoved into my mouth anymore. I had enough of that when I was young. Furthermore, I'd like to take walks and relax," says the gymnast.

But until she gets time for all that, Sandra still has a lot of training ahead of her. Even though she uses makeup, is about to get her driver's license, and will turn nineteen this year, Sandra finishes off our evening chat with the words, "In other respects I'm [still] a child."

The program for 2009
Sandra's first competition of 2009 will take place on February 21, in America, in Oklahoma. Together with Andreea Grigore [nope - Dana Druncea] she will compete in the meet organized by Nadia Comăneci. Before the European Championships in April, Sandra is also scheduled to take part in a friendly against Italy.

Izbaşa and Druncea Leave for Oklahoma; Grigore to Stay at Home Due to Weight Issues

This just in from ProSport:


Sandra Izbaşa (photo: ProSport)

Izbaşa, off to Nadia's show

Olympic floor champion Sandra Izbaşa and teammate Dana Druncea are leaving for the United States today to compete in the Nadia Comăneci International Invitational. The competition, organized by Nadia, will take place in Oklahoma on February 20 [note: as far as we know, the elite portion of the competition is held on the 21st] and will unite over 600 gymnasts from America and another 25 athletes from the rest of the world.

"It's a club competition, and our national team members also have obligations to the clubs where they were raised and which continue to support them. For us, the competition in America will be to verify everything we have learned and rehearsed so far under the new code," we were told by the national head coach, Nicolae Forminte.


Andreea Grigore (photo: Bernhard Schwall/Gymfan)

Although a third representative of Steaua Bucharest, Andreea Grigore, had also been announced as a competitor, the coaches decided not to send her to the United States.

"Grigore is having great weight problems and may jeopardize her health [if she competes]. We have decided that it's better for her to stay in Deva and try to get rid of the excess weight she has gained," said the head coach.

Sounds like a lot of gymnasts are having weight issues at the moment. Recent reports from Italy, Brazil and China indicate that Vanessa Ferrari, Lais Souza and Zhou Zhuoru have all put on significant amounts of weight and are having some trouble shedding it. We'll spare you the details; suffice it to say Grigore is not the only one who has her work cut out for her.

Meanwhile, doesn't Sandra look great in that picture?

Romanian News

This week's big news from Romania would have to be Nicolae Forminte's indignation at the news that marathon runner Constantina Diţă-Tomescu rather than Sandra Izbaşa was named Romanian Sportswoman of the Year 2008 at the Romanian Sports Gala on January 31. "If we had known Sandra wasn't going to win, we wouldn't have come," an angry Forminte reportedly told Gazeta Sporturilor, adding that he felt the award should have gone to the athlete who had won most medals in 2008. On top of her Olympic title, Izbaşa won two European golds (team and floor) in 2008, whereas Diţă-Tomescu "only" won an Olympic gold medal. Izbaşa herself has not publicly commented on the row.


Sandra Izbaşa in Beijing (photo: Reuters)

Meanwhile, ProSport posted a videotaped interview with Forminte in which the head coach said he hoped Sandra Izbaşa, Anamaria Tămîrjan and Gabriela Drăgoi would be healthy enough to represent Romania at the European Championships, to be held in Milan, April 2-5. He also identified newcomer Diana Chelaru as a possible fourth representative at the Europeans.


Newcomer Diana Chelaru, slated to compete at the Europeans
(Photo taken from the website of the Blanc-Mesnil tournament)

Forminte also said in the ProSport interview that rising star Ana Porgras was recovering well from the knee surgery she recently underwent in Italy; she will miss the Europeans but is expected to recover in time for the World Championships. However, Forminte is concerned about the slow recoveries of Cerasela Pătraşcu, Andreea Acatrinei and Gabriela Drăgoi, saying that some of the gymnasts struggling with injuries are contemplating retirement.

In men's news, Gazeta Sporturilor reports that Romania will probably be represented in Milan by Flavius Koczi, Răzvan Şelariu and Marius Berbecar.

Meanwhile, judging from this ProSport interview with head coach Nicuşor Pascu, Adrian Bucur (not Flavius Koczi, as reported earlier) will represent Romania at the American Cup.

Finally, former star Steliana Nistor and new men's coach Nicuşor Pascu have recently given interviews which we hope to translate for you soon.

Meanwhile, in Non-AYOF News...

--- ProSport reports that Marian Drăgulescu just taught his first class as a coach at Dinamo Bucharest (Aurelia Dobre's old club), where his former teammates Marius Urzică and Dan Potra are coaching as well. According to ProSport, Drăgulescu's goal is to create a gymnast who will be better than himself. Good luck with that, Marian!

--- Adevărul reports that Sandra Izbaşa and Răzvan Şelariu were voted the Romanian Gymnastics Federation's Athletes of the Year 2008. Şelariu was second on floor at the 2008 Europeans; Izbaşa is the Olympic champion on the same event.

--- A few days ago we reported that Diego Hypolito had lost his sponsors. Now Dutch newspapers are reporting that the same fate has befallen Suzanne Harmes, whose sponsorship contract with the Dutch Olympic Committee has not been renewed due to a lack of noteworthy achievements in 2008 (Harmes won the national title and qualified to the Olympics, but achieved little else). This means a substantial loss of income for Harmes, which is all the more worrying because her new training arrangements (she recently switched to a club in the north of the country while continuing to live in the south) call for frequent traveling and overnight stays at hotels, and because she has a child to look after (she is a single mom).


Suzanne Harmes with her son Lugano
(photo: Merlin Daleman/NRC)

--- Finally, just in case you were wondering what Dutch, Belgian, and German gymnastics fans get up to at the end of each season, here's your answer: they attend gymnastics galas. A while ago we posted a video with highlights of a Dutch gala. Now the Flemish Gymnastics Federation has posted a video with highlights of the gala which was held in Ghent in late December. There are some quick (very quick!) glimpses of Sandra Izbaşa, Daria Zgoba, Aagje Vanwalleghem, and Benoit Caranobe, as well as an acrotumbler hitting a triple back, a rather unique pair ribbon routine, and some impressive-looking acrobatic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. We've been told the Ghent gala was better than the Dutch galas, but we don't think the Belgians were treated to the Chinese men's four which performed at the Dutch galas and wowed audiences with their human rope-skipping.

Druncea, Grigore, and Izbaşa Scheduled to Compete in Oklahoma Next Month

ProSport just posted another update on the Deva girls, this time with news about competition assignments (at the bottom of the article). Here you are!

Girls Training Normally

Having finished a ten-day training camp in the mountains during the holiday period, the members of the national gymnastics team have re-entered their regular training program, with two workouts a day.

"We can already see the effects of the conditioning work done in the mountains. The girls, especially the juniors, are better able to withstand exertion and constant training now. So far everything is going well. Things are back to normal now. Sandra has returned to the team as well, after we let her spend a few days at home. We're not having any particular problems," coach Nicolae Forminte said.

The technical staff and Federation officials will soon determine in which competitions the girls will compete this year. "We'll have a meeting to establish our competitive calendar and to commit to paper the training plan we have thought up for this year," explained coach Nicolae Forminte.

The competitive schedule has not been finalized yet, but the head coach did say the first competition of the year would take place in Oklahoma next month, at an international competition organized by Nadia Comăneci.

"It's a club competition, and the Steaua girls have been invited. Dana Druncea, Andreea Grigore, and Sandra Izbaşa will be going. After that, on February 21, we hope to send Ana Tămîrjan to the American Cup, also in the United States. Those will be our competitions in the near future. In addition, we'd like to send some juniors to test competitions. One such competition will be held in March, in either England or Italy. The exact place is still to be determined," the coach said.


Dana Druncea, scheduled to compete in Oklahoma in February
(photo: Jasmin Schneebeli-Wochner/Gymbox)

Could this be a junior ROM-ITA-GBR tri-meet in March? Cool. We look forward to that! Also, the Nadia meet should be fun, what with Dana Druncea, Andreea Grigore, and Sandra Izbaşa attending.

External link: Nadia Comăneci International Invitational

More on the Romanian Girls' Training Camp

Yesterday we posted a very short update from ProSport saying that the Romanian girls had returned from their training camp in the mountains. It was a two-line report without any details about the training camp, which kind of baffled us, as we were expecting stories and photos of the girls in the snow.

Turns out we were looking in the wrong direction. While ProSport more or less ignored the girls' training camp, other papers were devoting ample attention to it.


Cerasela Pătraşcu and Diana Chelaru (photo: Libertatea)

This article was posted by Libertatea ("Freedom") on December 27.

Attack in the snow!

Thanks to the snow, which has fallen in abundance over the last few days at the mountain resort of Poiana Braşov, the scenery looks like a fairy-tale. In this dreamscape, at less than five minutes' distance from Hotel Olimpic, a group of little girls is doing its best to plow its way through the 30-centimeter [one-foot] layer of snow in the middle of the path, each morning and each afternoon.

They are the members of the national gymnastics team, who are on a restorative training camp. Well wrapped up, with hats drawn over their foreheads and leg warmers like footballers', coach Nicolae Forminte's pupils have red cheeks because of the cold, but they are in excellent spirits. But even here, far away from the "laboratory" in Deva, the girls maintain a strict discipline. Standing in a perfect line, like they do at the beginning of each workout in the gym, the girls respond in unison to their coaches' greeting, "Bună ziua" (Hello).

Sandra Izbaşa, leader of the platoon

After that, with a smile on their lips, they listen to the short and precise instructions given by coach Lili Cosma: "You'll run six laps. You'll go up to the pillar of the cable car and come down close to the hotel." The girls quickly move off, after a light warmup where Cerasela Pătraşcu is the center of attention. Sandra Izbaşa, the Beijing Olympic champion, encourages the recent additions to the team: "Come on, girls! We still have a long way to go. Let's keep the momentum going!" Sandra goes at the head of the platoon of running girls.

Here the article ends, rather abruptly in our opinion.


Cerasela Pătraşcu (left) and Ana Porgras (photo: Libertatea)

Meanwhile, local newspaper Braşovul Tau ("Your Braşov") posted this article on December 28.

Romania's Female Gymnasts Spent Christmas in Poiana

The most prolific Romanian national team ever, which is to say the national women's gymnastics team, actually trained during the holidays. Nicolae Forminte's golden girls celebrated Christmas together at a training camp in Poiana Braşov.

"I think this is the first Christmas we've spent together at a training camp," Olympic gold medalist Sandra Izbaşa said. "It was really nice. We were together and felt like a family. Mr. Forminte and the Romanian Gymnastics Federation gave us presents and we thank them very much for those."


Sandra Izbaşa and Nicolae Forminte (photo: Libertatea)

"The girls sang Christmas carols for us and we spent a very nice evening together. We gave the girls presents and we felt like one great family. And on St. Nicholas [December 6] the girls surprised us with tiny gift parcels they had prepared for us, which we found in front of our rooms in Deva," said Nicolae Forminte.

A great year

For Romanian women's gymnastics, 2008 was a great year. "It was a good year. It was the year that ended the Olympic cycle, the year for which we had worked four years, and the year in which we demonstrated that our country's new national team can still command a place among the top nations in international women's gymnastics," said the coach of the national team, Nicolae Forminte.

For the leader of the current crop of gymnasts, Sandra Izbaşa, 2008 was a very good year too. "It was a fabulous year in which I made my greatest dream come true and had other valuable experiences. The medal I won at the Beijing Olympics after so much work was just extraordinary. It was the crowning glory of a perfect season," Sandra said.


Sandra Izbaşa (photo: Libertatea)

Santa was generous

Because they achieved such very good results, Santa Claus was generous toward the girls on the national team. But both for them and for the national team coaches, the results obtained at the Olympics were the most valuable present.

"I think Santa came very early for me, when we won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. That was the most beautiful present," said Forminte, while Sandra Izbaşa considered her gold medal in Beijing to be both a birthday present and a Christmas present. "You could say it was both a birthday present and a gift from Santa Claus, because I've had such a successful year."

And that concludes our Poiana Braşov coverage for this year!

One More Sandra Izbasa Interview to Finish Things Off

Here's the other Sandra Izbasa article we promised you a few days ago, this time from the Romanian magazine Flacara (The Flame). It's a long article, but very interesting - well worth the read.

Quick summary for those of you who don't have time to read the whole thing: Sandra suffered a serious injury before Beijing, hates Romanian folk music, used to be into rollerblading, and intends to go on until the 2012 Olympics. Needless to say we're very happy to hear the latter piece of news. Find out the rest for yourself below!


(photo: Reuters)

Sandra Izbasa, Romania's Golden Gymnast

She walks on the beam as if it were a road, and when she has to perform a floor exercise, she does it like a true maestro. At first sight she looks like a frail girl, but in reality she's quite strong, somehow capable of focusing on what she has to do and seeing a routine through to the end, even when she is injured.

This year, at the Beijing Olympics, she showed the whole world that she is the queen of the floor, obtaining the Olympic gold medal. Sandra Raluca Izbasa dreams of gold at the 2009 Worlds and promises to take part in the 2012 Olympics.

We visited Sandra Izbasa at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Complex at Izvorani, where she had just finished training. It was just before she went to Japan to compete at the Toyota Cup, where she was to take first place on floor and second place on beam. She was taking driving lessons under the guidance of the head coach of the national team, Nicolae Forminte.

Open-hearted, calm and friendly, Sandra spoke to us about herself, about the rigors of the life of a champion, and about how to do a piked full-in and a tucked one, a triple turn, a 2.5 twist followed by a full twist, a 1.5 twist backward followed by a 1.5 twist forward, a full-twisting split leap, and a triple twist.

So many turns, so many rotations, all without getting confused, without getting dizzy. "When I learned my first difficult elements at age seven, I would get dizzy, because I didn't really know how to rotate, but at the time I was only experimenting. Now we know exactly how to land and how to avoid problems that may arise while we're in the air. That means hard work, repetitions and technique. Now I never feel dizzy anymore," Sandra stated.


(photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Sandra also needs choreography for her floor routine (her favorite event, followed by beam). This is where choreographer Valer Puia comes in, but also Sandra herself. "Mr. Puia is the one who suggests the music, but I'm the one who decides whether it's OK for me and whether I can perform a routine to that particular tune. If not, I tell him to make small adjustments, either because it's too slow, or because it's too dynamic. Mr. Puia and I created the floor exercise I performed at the Olympics together. He came up with ideas, so did I. My father used to take piano lessons, and I think I've inherited some of his ear for music. Only I chose to focus more on gymnastics."

From the time of our interview until the end of 2008, Sandra will have had to compete in three more international competitions (on top of the one in Japan) - in Italy, Spain and Belgium. She will only compete in individual competitions, on floor and beam.

Sandra first set foot in a gym in 1994, at Bucharest's Steaua club, when she was four years old. Since then, gymnastics has become her second nature. Her first coaches were Eliza Stoica, Elena Ceampelea, Angela Cacovean, Mariana Ristea, G. Neagu and M. Vintila.

On top of gymnastics, Sandra played handball for a while, but the dice rolled in favor of gymnastics. The results she has obtained so far prove that she made the right choice. "People who say that you lose your childhood if you practice sport all the time are wrong. I don't know how many children have had the opportunity to see as many countries as I have, least of all at my age. When I was young, I had time to train, to go to school and to play. Later, when I grew older, I obviously didn't have so much time to go out with the other kids anymore. But all in all, I had a great childhood," says Sandra Izbasa.

In 2003, Sandra joined the national junior team at Onesti. In 2005, she joined the national team at Deva.

So how are the routines she does created?

"On beam, for instance, Mrs. Liliana Cosma and I have put together a set of required and highly rated artistic and technical elements. We have a whole series of technical words that normal people don't understand. For example, when I say that I'm going to do a 540 with a 540, it means I'm going to do a 1.5 rotation [twist] backward followed by a 1.5 rotation forward. A switch leap is a split leap in which you open up, and a wolf jump is a jump with one bent knee and one straight knee," the gymnast explains enthusiastically.


(photo: Reuters)

What does a day in the life of the girl who brought numerous victories to Romanian gymnastics at a time when naysayers were questioning the quality of the new generation of gymnasts that had emerged after Catalina Ponor look like?

"I get up, I'm weighed, I have breakfast, and I go to school from 8.00am to 10.15am. Then we train, eat, sleep, train and get treatment [massage and physical therapy] if we need it. Then we sleep. I like school. I especially enjoy Romanian literature, history, geography and English. English is very useful to me. When I was young, I took German lessons, but since we don't have German lessons in Deva, I'm taking French lessons instead." Next year she'll sit her exams: Sport (practice and theory), English, Romanian, geography, and history.

"I want to go to the National Academic of Physical Education and Sport, but I'd like to study something else as well. I haven't made up my mind about my second course yet. Anyhow, until then, I'll focus on next year's World Championships, and obviously, I'd like to make it to the 2012 London Olympics."

Gymnastics doesn't only mean hard work and success. Often it means tears of pain following injuries, when you realize that you're capable of more, but can't continue your fight for a medal because of some stupid accident. Sandra Izbasa has not been spared such moments. She suffered a few of them over the last year, before the Olympics.

"I was having a very difficult time. I went from one injury to the next. First I had problems with my foot, then with my back. I injured my foot because I was training without properly having warmed up. My foot was in a cast for two months, after which I had three weeks to come back and compete at the Worlds. After the World Championships, I had a short break, and after that I had to start working hard again. I also had back problems, so bad that I had to stop training for two and half months. At the European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, this year, I took gold on floor and with the team, and bronze on beam. So I came back strongly. I got injured in the beam final, when I banged my two feet together, which resulted in a small fracture. My parents and coaches encouraged me and told me not to give up, that I could get through the Olympics. I never allowed myself to be affected by the voices that said: 'Sandra is injured, she cannot be counted on.' Maybe I sometimes gave the impression that I was about to give up, but that wasn't the case. I don't give up easily. I kept telling myself: 'I am, am, am capable of more!' I'm a fighter. I'm not interested in the bad things people say. Even though many people felt others would shine at the Olympics, I just minded my own work and kept on fighting for a medal," Sandra Izbasa recounts.


(photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Beyond her sufferings and her happiness about her success, Sandra is an 18-year-old girl (she turned eighteen on June 18) with many dreams, aspirations and ideals. In her spare time she listens to music, takes walks, surfs the web, reads and never has time to get bored.

"I listen to all kinds of music, except manele [gypsy-inspired folk ballads]. I'm allergic to those. They make me break out in boils!" She laughs. "I listen to dance, R&B, rock, rock ballads, hip hop and, generally, every tune I like. I don't really have a favorite band. Sometimes I like one song by a band, but not the rest of their album, so I'm going by individual songs rather than by bands in general. When I have time, I read magazines. At the moment I'm reading The Law of Attraction by Kate Corbin, about wisdom. Obviously I also read Cosbuc and Eminescu [Romania's most famous poets], but partly because I have to do so at school, because I'm sitting my exams this year. I don't really have time to watch movies. Sometimes I like to go shopping when I'm in Bucharest, but only if I can get someone to come with me, because I don't like to go shopping on my own."

Back in the old days, one would occasionally come across Sandra on rollerblades in Herastrau [a large park in Bucharest], but these days she doesn't have time for that. She doesn't visit her grandparents very often anymore either, not because she doesn't want to, but because she simply doesn't have time anymore.

These days Sandra gets recognized in the street. "Just after the Olympics a lot of people recognized me in the street. It made me happy, but also a little embarrassed. I realize that people now look at me a bit differently. It calls for different behaviour. The whole world now looks at what Izbasa is doing, so I have to be careful about what I say and do. I also have to pay attention to how I behave in the gym, because the younger girls now look up to me as a role model."

Sandra doesn't worry about not having a boyfriend. "It's no use having a boyfriend now. Especially since I spend a lot of time in Deva and this is not the right time. I want to be a child for a bit longer and to take pleasure in everything I do. My time for a boyfriend will come later."

Her girlfriends are mostly teammates from Deva with whom she laughs off bad times and has an excellent time.

She stays in touch with her old school friends from Bucharest on line. She also stays in touch with the friend she made in Beijing, Cheng Fei, who was the first person to congratulate her after her floor routine at the Olympics.


(photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Just to confirm the latter, it seems Sandra spends a bit of time on Facebook. Her list of Facebook friends reads like a veritable Who's Who of gymnastics. Check back every now and then and you'll see she's befriended the entire gymnastics community. One more reason to love the girl!

"Afterward It All Went As If I'd Been Unleashed": Sandra Izbasa Reviews 2008

Interesting articles are being posted left, right and center at the moment. We're having a bit of trouble keeping up with them, but eventually we'll translate them all. Promise.

In Romania, two interesting articles on Sandra Izbaşa were published this week. This is one of them, courtesy of ProSport. We hope to have a translation of the other article up in a few days. Enjoy!



The Sound of Music

She comes from a sport in which, in Romania, only gold counts. All or nothing: the pressure of results.

"If only you knew what they said about us until we won the gold at the European Championships! There was a lot of criticism, and many people who didn't believe in us, who didn't give a dime for our chances, who cut us to pieces."

She came off a year [2007] full of bad luck and injuries. Full of ambition and a wish to show what she was worth, and pressure not to fail. "I was scared. Last year my foot was in a cast for two months, and at the Worlds I only competed for the team. This [2008] was the most important year [for me personally]. There were the Olympics and other competitions where I dreamed of being the best. I was fighting for myself."

Sandra Izbaşa is not a typical Romanian gymnast. Tall (1.64m - 5'5''), blond, expressive, and with an impressive beauty, the leader of the women's team always has a smile on her face. Serious and focused before every routine, she relaxes afterward, posing for the judges and the crowd.

"That's my way of thanking the crowd that has supported me. And my smile during my routines is, well, a bit more formal. But sometimes I'm so pleased with the music and what I'm doing out there that I just feel like smiling the whole time," she says with a smile.


(photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

With the floor exercise for which she received the Olympic gold, she demonstrated that dance and gymnastics make a great union.

The first fight: The European Championships in France

There weren't many gold medals for Romanian gymnastics in 2007. Instead, Nicolae Forminte's girls always seemed to place second. In addition, the team was "hit" by injuries.

"The Olympic year promised to be hard. There were many emotions and many expectations. Furthermore, I was also very frustrated, because I hadn't attained even half of my goals, and on top of that I was afraid. We couldn't afford to make a single mistake," confesses Sandra.

Thousands of hours of training, endless repetitions, corrections and the same thing all over again. The first test of the year 2008: The European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand. The first casualty: Cerasela Pătraşcu. "It was terrible. I saw how angry she was that she couldn't help the team. When I left the room to go to the competition, I said to her: 'Cera, I promise you that the gold will be ours.' Afterward it all went as if I'd been unleashed," Sandra remembers. It was Romania's first European title in its new formation. In 2006 the team had only won silver. It was the beginning of April.

Olympic gold = perfection in sport

Sunday, August 17th. A very emotional day for Sandra. "I hadn't qualified for the beam final. I was sad about that, and at the same time I was afraid because I only had a single shot left at an Olympic title. I couldn't afford to make any mistakes," she relates.

The floor final was marked by many mistakes, until Sandra stepped on the floor.


(photo: AFP/Getty)

"I couldn't believe I was there on that floor. I was so nervous my legs were trembling. Mr. Forminte encouraged me, telling me that he believed I could do it and that now was the time to show everyone what I was made of."

Her first four passes were perfect. Then came the last one.

"On your first few passes, you do everything on auto-pilot. You think: 'Now comes this, then that, then that.' But on your final pass, you're confronted with yourself. I heard the crowd applaud, I felt Mr. Forminte restlessly pacing back and forth, and I kept repeating to myself: 'I have to stick the landing.' I knew that I'd win if I had a perfect landing," she said, reliving the moment.

And she did stick the landing. She went straight to the highest step of the podium, the only female European gymnast to win an Olympic title in Beijing. The title belonged to Sandra and to Romania.


(photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

"It was a year with many good aspects: my strong comeback after my foot injury, our winning the team gold at the Europeans, the fact that we stayed on the podium at the Olympics, and my Olympic gold on floor," Sandra said, reviewing the year. "And that which didn't work out this year will certainly work out next year..."

She is not at all thinking of retirement. She still has battles to fight and goals to attain, the most important one of which is the world title. "That's still missing from my prize list. I want to get everything I can get on floor," she stated.

World Cup Final: A Few Responses

Earlier we gave you some Dutch reactions to the team's mixed fortunes at the World Cup Final. We thought we'd post some other responses from around the globe as well...

Women


Lauren Mitchell

Beam winner Lauren Mitchell made a few headlines in Australia: "Aussie gymnast makes history in Madrid" (Sydney Morning Herald) and "Lauren Mitchell beaming in triumph" (Daily Telegraph), among others. Mitchell's local newspaper Perth Now wrote a nice piece about her in which the head of her club, Liz Chetkovich (also Australia's national gymnastics TV commentator) said Mitchell's result was simply exceptional. "For Lauren to win a World Cup final against such a strong field confirms that she is an outstanding world-class gymnast," Chetkovich said. "She's shown incredible character to bounce back from the disappointment of not making the beam final in Beijing to make the podium six times during the World Cup season. Last night's result just caps it all off."

Mitchell herself is still to comment on her recent success.

According to Globoesporte, Daniele Hypolito and her coach, Ricardo Pereira, were disappointed after the beam final. "[Daniele] did well in warmup. Everything looked normal," said Pereira. "But in the competition, she didn't make her three-element mount and fell. And Dani needed to stick that mount to have medal chances." Hypolito normally mounts beam with a difficult roundoff - layout - ff- layout to two feet combination.


Daniele Hypolito during the mount that cost her a medal (photo: UOL Esporte)

Despite her disaster on bars and her disappointing result on beam (she would have medaled if she hadn't missed her mount), Daniele Hypolito herself felt she had done "reasonably well" in the tournament. "The year is nearly over and I didn't obtain excellent results. But I'll be back in 2009, different and better, with an eye to the next Olympics," Daniele said. She emphasized that she has no retirement plans for the time being: "I'm not going to retire yet. The new Code of Points is in my favor, so I'll be able to go on firm and strong until 2012," Hypolito said.

In Romania, a tired-looking Sandra Izbasa, who was beaten to the floor gold by Cheng Fei and Jiang Yuyuan, reportedly said after the floor final: "I knew I wasn't going to win after each pass I did, but it's important to know how to lose with a smile on your face. I'm not at all upset. I'll be the Olympic champion on floor for the next four years and that's what matters to me."

In Belgium, bronze medalist Aagje Vanwalleghem, who has suffered many serious injuries over the last few years and has just recovered from a major knee injury, told Sporza that she was very pleased with the vaults she had shown at the World Cup Final.

"I'm glad and relieved that I can still perform as well as this after such a long recovery period," said Vanwalleghem. "I think you can say I'm back, both physically and mentally. It took a long time for my knee to heal completely, but now I can vault well again."


Aagje Vanwalleghem won the bronze on vault in Madrid (photo: Belga)

Vanwalleghem also said she's working on more difficult vaults, but doesn't want to become a vault specialist. "I'd like to stay an all-around gymnast, so I'm not going to specialize on one event just yet," she said. "Also because it's easier for an all-arounder to qualify for the Olympics." Vanwalleghem, who competed in Athens but missed Beijing because of her knee injury, has her heart set on London 2012.

Men

The French media hardly had anything to say about Thomas Bouhail and Yann Cucherat's gold medals in Madrid. A quick "So Beijing wasn't an accident, after all" in L'Equipe and "Congratulations!" on the FFG's website was all the boys got for their gold-medal-winning efforts. Way to make your athletes feel appreciated, guys.


Thomas Bouhail (photo: Volker Minkus/FIG)

As to the Brazilian media, we've already posted Diego Hypolito's ecstatic response to his gold medal on floor. According to Globoesporte, Hypolito was "more than satisfied" with his sixth-place finish on vault, as well: "I think I did well in my two vaults and I'm more than satisfied with my making the final on this event. My main objective was to do well on floor, and I did just that. I'm leaving Madrid with the feeling of having fulfilled my duty," Hypolito said.

He also announced changes for next year: "Next year I'll make a few small changes. Perhaps I'll do a more difficult Hypolito, with a few added touches. We'll see. First I'm going to make the most of my vacation." We guess that will be the upcoming trip to Disney World (with his sister Daniele and Jade Barbosa) he announced earlier.


Diego Hypolito (center) on the medal stand with Kohei Uchimura and Alexander Shatilov

We'll post the Chinese reactions to their World Cup successes in a separate entry, and we hope at some point to be able to post some Russian responses as well.

Sandra Izbasa: Tired and Looking Forward to Getting Madrid Over and Done With

Been wondering how Sandra Izbaşa is feeling after her self-admitted "hellish schedule" of the last few months? Well, apparently she's tired. What a surprise.

If there's any gymnast out there who deserves a nice Christmas break, it's Sandra, we think.


(photo: ProSport?)

This from ProSport:

Izbaşa Is Ready for the World Cup Final

Having just spent a few days at the Izvorani training center, the Olympic champion on floor, Sandra Izbaşa and the head coach of the national women's team, Nicolae Forminte, are preparing for their two final competitions of the year. The most important one, the World Cup Final, is taking place in Madrid this weekend. Therefore, the two are departing for the Spanish capital tomorrow morning.

"I'm not at all nervous. I'm going there to do what I know best, which is to say, to compete. I'm a little tired and I can hardly wait for my vacation. I've just had two criminal months during which I hardly ever got to stay at Deva. I was on the road all the time, and I'm beginning to feel the effects of that. I'm not feeling any pressure. At the moment, all I want to do is to get what needs to be done over and done with as soon as possible and to finish this year on a healthy note," Sandra told ProSport.

For his part, the team's head coach, Nicolae Forminte, considers the Spanish competition an important test for his pupil. "I understand that this is the last time the World Cup will be organized in this format. So I think the results will really count. It's an important competition where how we present ourselves will matter. It will be an end-of-year test. As Sandra was saying, we look forward to being done with all these competitions so that we can get some rest," said Forminte.

Sandra Izbaşa's last appearance of the year will be at an exhibition in Belgium which will be held between December 19 and 21 [the Ghent "Gym Gala," to be held on December 20].

"Sandra Could Be a TV Star"

For all the Sandra Izbaşa fans out there (you know who you are), this is our translation of an article which appeared in Libertatea on December 4. Enjoy!

"Sandra Could Be a TV Star"

The head coach of the Romanian national team, Nicolae Forminte, advises Sandra Izbaşa to go into show business.

Nicolae Forminte, the coach from Deva, says he'd let his pupil interview him if Sandra Izbaşa (aged 18) were ever to become a TV anchor: "Besides being an intelligent girl, she's also beautiful," he explained.


Sandra and Forminte (photo: Libertatea)

Two weeks from now, the national team's winter training will start in Poiana Braşov [one of Romania's prettier mountain resorts, where the national gymnastics team traditionally spends some time each winter]. “We'll spend Christmas in Poiana Braşov, and New Year's Eve in Deva. We won't allow ourselves an overly long vacation. We have a lot of work to do," Forminte told Libertatea.

The Deva coach explained that Sandra Izbaşa, the Olympic champion on floor, is not thinking of leaving the national team. She wishes to go on being a high-level athlete, at least until after she has graduated from high school [next year, we believe].

"After the Olympics Sandra received many offers to take part in a series of fashionable activities. Among other things, she received an invitation from the producers of [the Romanian version of] Dancing with the Stars. If she'd accepted those offers, she wouldn't have been able to go through the training process anymore, so she declined them," Forminte told us.

"I think that, after graduating from college, Sandra stands a good chance of having a successful career in the world of show business or TV. She could even become a TV star. Besides being an intelligent girl, she's also beautiful," the coach said. "I'd love to go to a show presented by Sandra. I'm absolutely convinced she'd ask me some very pertinent questions about gymnastics," Forminte went on to say.

Somehow so are we.


Is that a TV anchor's face or what? (Photo: The One)

The most interesting thing about the Libertatea article is the caption which hovers over the top photo when you move your mouse across it: "Flapper Sandra Izbaşa (aged 18), Beijing Olympic champion, dreams of becoming a model." Really? We know Sandra has done a few photo shoots, but as far as we know, she's never said anything about becoming a model...

International News Roundup

We have a whole lot of news for you, plus a minor scandal which we'll post in a separate entry. Amazingly, hardly any of this week's news is injury-related!

--- The Belgian Gymnastics Federation has finally released the results of the Top Gym Event Finals. Click here to see them.

--- Much to our surprise, Sandra Izbasa didn't win Romania's Athlete of the Year Award. The honor was bestowed instead on Alina Dumitru, a judoka who won Romania's first gold medal of the 2008 Olympics. You can watch Dumitru accept the award (in a horrible ensemble featuring blue tights) here. Sandra doesn't appear in the video.


Isabelle Severino (photo: L'Equipe)

--- We can't find the press release anymore, but it's been confirmed that 2005 European floor champion Isabelle Severino, who was forced to retire from competitive gymnastics half a year ago after tearing her Achilles tendon, has been elected to the Directorate of the French Gymnastics Federation. We're not sure what Severino is going to do at the FFG, but it's great to see she'll stay involved in the sport. It sounds like she'll have her work cut out for her. The FFG has announced that it aims to win 3 to 5 gymnastics medals at the London Olympics, which will take some doing, we think.

--- International Gymnast reports that Oleg Ostapenko has accepted a job offer from the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation, after also having received offers from the Russian and Brazilian federations. From January onward he'll be Ukraine's head coach. It is hoped that Ostapenko, who coached Lilia Podkopayeva to the 1996 Olympic all-around title and spent the last 7 years working with the Brazilian national team, will give the Ukrainian women's program a much-needed boost. Meanwhile, Ostapenko's Ukrainian co-worker at Curitiba, Irina Ilyashenko, will go on coaching the Brazilian girls.


Rotterdam's Erasmus Bridge, where Yuri van Gelder will perform a routine

--- Two years from now, Dutch ring specialist Yuri van Gelder will be seen doing something quite spectacular: Performing his ring routine while suspended from Rotterdam's Erasmus Bridge, so as to promote the 2010 World Championships, which will be held in Rotterdam (also site of the 1987 Worlds), October 17-24. The stunt was announced yesterday at a press conference given by the championships' organizing committee. Reportedly, Rotterdam Alderman Lucas Bolsius, who seems keen to promote the championships in an unusual way, said to Van Gelder at the press conference, "Let's make a deal here, right now. Around the time of the 2010 Worlds, you'll be hanging from the Erasmus Bridge. We'll make sure there's a set of rings suspended from the bridge. This great footage will be shown the world over, both on TV and on YouTube. That's my dream. I'm going to make all the necessary arrangements with the Assistant Secretary." Van Gelder was up for it: "I'll definitely give it a shot. It would be a unique situation for me." It was later revealed that the two meant it and had in fact agreed on the stunt before the press conference.

Meanwhile, in China...


Xiao Qin (photo: Sohu)

--- Remember we told you a while ago that the Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, where Cheng Fei and Yang Wei learned the tricks of the trade, had received such an influx of new students after the Olympics that the club didn't have enough coaches to go around and had even asked Cheng Fei's father to become a coach? Well, it seems not all Chinese clubs are doing that well. Last week Sina posted an article about Xiao Qin's former club, the Zhongshan East Road Sports Academy in Nanjing, which back in the early '90s received 1,500 prospective students a year but saw its popularity plummet in the late '90s, among other things because of the Sang Lan accident. Since then, while sports like basketball, tennis, and table tennis have become or remained popular, the club's gymnastics program has dwindled, and apparently not even Xiao Qin's achievements have been able to restore it to its former glory. The Head of the gymnastics club recently told Sina that the club had distributed 400 recruitment leaflets to local kindergartens after the Beijing Olympics, only for 3 (yes, three) parents to show up with their children for the club's selection day. We're guessing Xiao Qin is a less appealing role model than Yang Wei and Cheng Fei then. Could it be because nobody really understands pommel horse?


Li Shanshan in Beijing (photo: Getty Images)

--- Meanwhile, the Guangdong Institute of Physical Education, which gave us Yang Yilin and Li Shanshan, has been commended by the local authorities. Sina reports that the Zhongshan National Torch High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (how's that for a mouthful?) has donated 800,000 yuan ($116,300) to the Institute to help it to produce more champions. We look forward to seeing what else will come out of that program.

And then there's some German news...

--- Financial Times Deutschland, which takes a surprising interest in gymnastics, has confirmed that vault specialist Matthias Fahrig will be the only German competitor at the World Cup Final. Fahrig was ranked 12th after the World Cup circuit but will be allowed to compete because Leszek Blanik and Anton Golotsutskov have retired. We're confused now - didn't the FIG just say Golotsutskov had confirmed his presence in Madrid?


Matthias Fahrig, who has since thankfully stopped bleaching his hair (photo: Peter de Jong/AP Photo)

--- The Schwaebische Zeitung has published Fabian Hambüchen's response to his world-record-breaking performance on the high bar at last weekend's Straubenhardt match. "I wasn't planning on doing it," Hambüchen said, referring to his new Pineda, a G-rated part which will carry a 0.8 value under the 2009 code. "Before the one-touch warmup my father asked me if I felt like doing the Pineda at the start of my routine. I was feeling good, so I thought to myself: 'Come, this is a good place to give it a try.'" Hambüchen missed the skill in warmup, but hit it beautifully when it counted. "Totally cool. It was fantastic to do the thing right at the start. I felt so happy [when I got it right], and you're just really proud afterward. At the end, when things get tough, it's just a matter of trying to get through your routine." But the fact that he had hit that routine didn't mean he was fit enough to go to Madrid: "I couldn't tell you now if I could do that routine the same way again tomorrow. But I can help Straubenhardt even if I do a slightly less difficult routine."

--- As to Marian Dragulescu, according to the same article in the Schwaebische Zeitung, he's giving the World Cup Final a miss because "the Bundesliga is simply more fun." Wow!

Quick News Roundup

--- We have yet to see any official results (or substantial unofficial results for that matter), but it seems that American national junior champ Jordyn Wieber has won the Top Gym competition held in Charleroi, Belgium, despite feeling a little under the weather. According to her website, Wieber received the top scores on all events (15.000 vault, 15.250 bars, 15.000 beam, 14.550 floor) and consequently ended up winning the all-around competition. No word yet on the other highly touted competitors (Kamerin Moore, Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar), nor on whether the Russians ended up sending any competitors (Tatiana Nabieva is supposed to be in nearby northern France) to Top Gym, which is traditionally a good spotting ground for junior talent. We hope to have complete results for you later.


Jordyn Wieber, winner of the Top Gym competition

--- According to German newspaper Zeit Online, supposedly injured Fabian Hambüchen just performed the most difficult high bar routine ever in KTV Straubenhardt's last match before the Bundesliga Final, to be contested in two weeks. Hambüchen is reported to have thrown a routine with a 7.5 start value, up 0.2 from his previous record. Way to prove you're seriously injured, Fabian!

--- According to the Gazeta Sporturilor, Sandra Izbasa is one of five nominees (four female, one male) for Romania's Athlete of the Year Award. The winner will be announced on December 2. We have a feeling Sandra will grab that award too.

--- Speaking of Athlete of the Year competitions, remember we told you last week that Yang Wei had been voted China's male athlete of the year, and his coach Huang Yubin China's coach of the year? Well, it now seems that the female gymnast closest to winning the award (which ended up going to table tennis legend Zhang Yining) wasn't Cheng Fei, as you might expect, but Deng Linlin! We can't find the details anymore (we'll have a look for them later when we have more time), but we do remember that the article said Deng got many more votes than Cheng, outscoring her by something like 5 to 1. We like Deng, but we do wonder - what did she do to outscore Cheng Fei, Jiang Yuyuan, and Yang Yilin by such a hefty margin?


A big thumbs-up for Deng Linlin indeed! (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

--- Finally, we'd like to draw your attention to this delightful Times Online article about Britain's new star on the pommel horse, Louis Smith. It sounds like Louis is quite a character. According to the article, he auditioned for The X Factor and is planning to unveal a new, highly showy element on the pommels at some point. He'd also love to compete wearing a giant Afro, but has decided against it because he feels the judges wouldn't appreciate it. Read the article for yourself - it's entertaining!

Sandra As You've Never Seen Her Before...

Well, we did say we wanted to post something cheerful and uplifting. A happy gymnastics story. Something that had nothing to do with either injuries or scandals. Something nice.

We guess we found it. And not surprisingly, it concerns Sandra Izbaşa, whom we can't help loving despite the fact that she's not the most elegant gymnast in the world. There's just something fabulously refreshing and wholesome about her. And we're going to post the video because it's cute and because it's been 11 days since we last posted anything about Sandra, and 11 days without news about Sandra is, like, a long time, y'all.

So. Today we'll show you Sandra as you've never seen her before.

THIS LINK will take you to a video posted by The One, a Romanian online magazine. It shows Sandra getting professionally made up and looking very pretty indeed. At the end of the one-minute video, she tells the viewer that her plan for next year is to get the world title which has so far eluded her. We don't know about you, but we like the sound of that!

As a teaser, here's a photo from the shoot. However, we think Sandra looks much prettier in the video. Do check it out!


Sandra Izbaşa (photo: The One)

"I Like Being Childish" - Sandra Izbasa

We'll return to the Brazilian coaching scandal tomorrow (yes, there's more to report), but first we'll give you your weekly scheduled Sandra Izbasa post, as the Olympic champion on floor just granted an interview to ProSport. Here's that interview, translated by our very own Mihaela!

First thing she sees when she looks out of the window:
"Now that the leaves have fallen off the trees, I can more easily catch sight of my car. I can also see my grandmother and the national team's dog, who's watching our house [or hostel]."

What she'd like to see when she looks out of the window:
"A quiet lake or river, and a clear sky."

If she could change anything about herself, it would be...
Sandra thinks about this for a while. "Right now, I wouldn't change anything. I'm satisfied with myself, with the way I look."



How she sees herself in ten years' time:
Sandra smiles. "Me at age 28... Well, a normal person in her own house, with a finished house, a car, and perhaps a boyfriend."

Sandra as a mother:
"I'm having trouble imagining that..." Sandra laughs. "I can't see it yet, but it's something you have to try in life. It's a normal thing to do, because family is important."

The truth:
"I like the plain and unadorned truth, told to me in a straightforward and forthright manner."

How she'd describe herself:
"I'm a fighter, and when I take it into my head to do something, no one can stop me. I've always liked to do things the hard way."

Image:
"Image matters a lot. I don't want anyone to put me on a pedestal or take me down from it, but I do want people to appreciate me for what I am and what I do."

Giving up:
"There have been times when I thought I wanted to give up and pack my bags, when I couldn't get the hang of a certain element. But I've never really considered retiring, no matter how tired I was or how much my injuries hurt."

Goals:
"I want to have a place of my own, my house, and a car, and to start a family. And I want a tree, a fruit tree which I'll plant in the courtyard myself, at home, in Domnesti. Oh, and in the basement I'll get myself a room where I can create floor exercises and do some choreography."

Question which keeps haunting her:
"'What did you feel after winning the Olympic gold medal?' You can't explain how it feels. It's a state, a being alive, a feeling you can't describe in five words."

Whether she has a boyfriend:
"No. I'll have time for that after I've quit gymnastics. I want to stick to my sport, and you know how it goes. If you chase two hares at once, you'll end up catching neither."

Nickname:
"Oscar. I never make the most of my training, but when there's an award to be won, I can always find a little bit extra."

Friends in gymnastics:
"Depends on affinities, preferences and other things. For instance, since the Olympics, the team has been very united, in good times and in bad times. What happened there has made us closer."

Special friend:
"Cheng Fei. She's an exceptional athlete and a perfectionist, and on top of that she has heaps of character. She knows how to lose with her head held high. She has a wonderful sense of fair play. When I had finished my floor exercise in Beijing, she was the first to come up to me and congratulate me."


Sandra and Cheng Fei (photo: AFP/Getty)

Appearance in competitions:
"I do everything myself. I've learned to fend for myself. Sure, I'd like to go to a hair stylist, like Shawn Johnson. I saw in a video that she has someone to fix her hair and do her makeup."

Picking the right leotard:
"It depends on the scope and importance of the competition, on what it could mean for me, and on how many people are watching the competition. All our leotards are beautiful. The one I like most is the blue-and-white one I wore at the Olympics."

Attitude toward life:
"I like being childish, to take pleasure in everything. I'd like to be a child for a few more years. Then we'll see what happens next."

That's our Sandra, great attitude and everything. We hope she'll remain a happy child for a little while longer.

Sandra's New Toy

On to happier news now...

Triple Full favorite Sandra Izbasa was one of five Romanian Olympic gold medalists (all female) to receive a car yesterday from COSR, the Romanian Olympic Committee. The Olympic champion on floor was presented with an orange, Chinese-made Hover worth €20,000 (about $26,000). She had picked the color herself in Beijing.


Photo: Gazeta Sporturilor



There's just one problem though. Izbasa doesn't have a driver's license. But according to Gazeta Sporturilor, that didn't prevent the champ from getting into the driver's seat, pushing lots of buttons and asking her father (who was accompanying her to the event) many questions about driving. "I'm just playing around," said Izbasa. "I'm on a voyage of discovery. I haven't got a license, but I'll definitely get one because I want to."

Until that time, Sandra thinks national team coach Nicolae Forminte should just act as her driver: "Mr Forminte can be both my driver and my coach," she said jokingly. "He'll drive me if I want him to. For me he'll be a bit of both." (Quote from ProSport.)

In actual fact, it seems Sandra's father will be the one to use the car for the time being. And while Mr Izbasa definitely wants his daughter to get her license, ProSport reports that he feels it shouldn't be her No. 1 priority this year. Instead he wants her to focus on passing her school exams at the end of the year.

Best of luck juggling those two things, Sandra.

Hambüchen and Izbaşa Win Arthur Gander Memorial

Sandra Izbaşa has won the first of the five competitions in which she is slated to compete this post-Olympic season: the Arthur Gander Memorial, an annual event held in Chiasso, Switzerland. The Gander Memorial has a unique format: female gymnasts only compete on three events of their choice, while male competitors get to pick their four favorite events.


Photo: Harry How/Getty Images

Competing on vault (14.000), beam (15.1000) and floor (15.200), Izbaşa amassed 44.300 points in Chiasso, holding off German über-veteran Oksana Chusovitina, who competed on the same three events and obtained 15.000 on vault, 14.800 on beam, and 14.200 on floor for a 44.000 total. He Ning of China placed third with a 43.550 total which included a rather sloppy bar routine (by Chinese standards). Rounding out the field were Ariella Kaeslin, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Yasmin Zimmermann, and Lia Parolari.

According to the DTB site, Germany's Marie-Sophie Hindermann had to withdraw from the competition due to an Achilles tendon injury which will also prevent her from competing before a home crowd at the DTB Cup.

The men's title went to Fabian Hambüchen, the first German to win the competition. Aside from the overall title, the high bar specialist obtained the highest scores on each of the individual events on which he chose to compete: high bar (16.000), floor (15.250), vault (16.150) and parallel bars (15.600). According to the DTB site, Hambüchen unveiled a new routine on high bar featuring both a layout and a tucked Kovacs (7.1 start value).


Photo: picture-alliance/dpa

As in the ladies' competition, the men's all-around silver went to a veteran: Bulgarian Jordan Jovchev (61.450). Russia's Maksim Devyatovsky ranked third with a 60.650 total.

Sandra's Hellish Schedule

Once upon a time, November and December were when gymnasts recovered from their year's efforts. Sure, a few competitions were held toward the end of the year (notably the Chunichi Cup and the DTB Cup), but by and large, gymnasts used November and December (as well as January and February) to recuperate and learn new skills and/or routines. And then the bunch of crazy people known collectively as the FIG introduced the Grand Prix cycle, and the competitive year just became a bit longer and more exhausting for certain gymnasts.


Photo: Xinhua

Take Sandra Izbaşa, for instance. Did you think she'd rest on her laurels after winning that Olympic gold medal on floor? Hell, no. According to ProSport, Izbaşa has just announced that she'll participate in five more competitions this year: the Arthur Gander Memorial and Swiss Cup in Switzerland, the Toyota Cup in Japan, the Milan Grand Prix in Italy, and the World Cup Final in Spain. These competitions will be held on October 29, November 2, November 15, November 22, and December 12, respectively, meaning Izbasa will be competing until the second half of December. She herself is the first to admit it's all a bit much: "I'll have a hellish schedule. But I'm not afraid, as I've done series of competitions before, and besides I've got plenty of rest [since the Olympics]. It's time to show that my place is in the competition arena. Moreover, I'll do floor, the event on which I feel great, and possibly also beam, depending on what scores I get."

So why is she putting herself through such a demanding schedule? "I long for the audience, for the competition arena, for everyone who will be there watching me. I long to make every leap count. But mostly I long to compete, to feel the rhythm of the music, to work as hard as I can and to hear the applause afterwards."

Apparently, Izbaşa will be the only one representing Romania at the aforementioned competitions. National team coach Nicolae Forminte was quoted by ProSport as saying, "Tămîrjan and Drăgoi are still recovering, and Sandra was the only one who was sufficiently prepared to honor the invitations from the Grand Prix events. Grigore has sprained her ankle, and the other girls are struggling to find their motivation."

Ah well. Best of luck to Izbaşa, then. And to all those Romanian national team members who are apparently struggling to find their motivation. Ahem.